


Little White Lies

by RandomOneShot



Category: Dragon Quest Series, Dragon Quest XI
Genre: Except Erik doesn't really believe in the comfort, Hurt/Comfort, Lying for the benefit of your friends, No one likes Sir Jasper, Serena doesn't understand why he's okay with the hurt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-15
Updated: 2018-09-15
Packaged: 2019-07-12 11:00:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,127
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15993812
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RandomOneShot/pseuds/RandomOneShot
Summary: While on their way to the sea after the whole Gondolia debacle, Erik and Serena go down to the infirmary to patch up a beatdown thief. Their reactions to the process are rather different.(Or, Erik grew up in various hives of scum and villainy throughout his life and Serena... not so much.)





	Little White Lies

Sylvando’s ship was some kind of hybrid of pleasure galley, warship and, bizarrely, circus. Removing themselves to the chambers beneath the deck revealed a miniature arena, an armory, a kitchen with a semi-attached dining room, a dozen lavishly decorated bedrooms, a similar number of equally lavishly decorated washrooms, a closet that took up half of the entire rear of the ship, and a stage with seats five rows deep. It was impossible, impractical and utterly Sylvando because it somehow came together to make a functioning ship.

At the moment, however, I only cared about the fully stocked infirmary that was tucked between the arena and armory, because the fight with Jasper had drained away the last of Serena’s magical power and she needed either a dose of magic water or some strong medicine to treat me. Later, I would do a thorough investigation of every room in the ship that I could get in to (and if there _were_ some I couldn’t get into, Sylvando was getting a thumb’s up from yours truly), but that was for later.

“Okay, take off your shirt and I’ll get to work,” Serena said innocently, as she rummaged through Sylvando’s cabinets for medical supplies.

She never meant anything naughty by it. It was just that Serena did not have a bit of cynicism or, ah, I want to say maturity, but that doesn’t really convey it, in her body. Veronica might have the younger body nowadays, but she definitely got the old soul of the twins. When we first started traveling together I had pointed out that most girls who asked to see me naked offered to cook me dinner first. Hand on my heart, it took her a good five seconds to realize what I meant and then her face turned bright red. She was so riled up it took her another two minutes to calm down enough to heal me from the wallop that damn monster had laid onto me. Mind you, me laughing at her the whole time probably didn’t help. Neither did Veronica kicking me.

The point was, I had learned the restraint needed to ignore the low hanging fruit she was dangling in front of my grasp. See, ma? You managed to raise a gentleman after all.

“Appreciated,” I sighed, then began the slow and damn painful process of pulling my upper clothes off. There were no buttons or ties keeping the shirt on. It had to be pulled off and today that was problem. I could have sliced it off with my knife I suppose, but then I would have to ask Sylvando to borrow one of his shirts and… no. I like the guy a lot more now than I did in the morning, but it’s a long way until I like his style.

Still, it was just pain and not an unfamiliar one. This wasn’t the first time Heliodor guards had laid into me. Chivalry seemed to go by the wayside when your opponent was on the ground. Or maybe it was just because I was a thief. Or maybe because I called one of them a gaping cunt. Probably that last one, actually.

I got the shirt off and gently folded it up in a small square, idly noting the various new tears I would have to sew up later. Sylvando had been keeping up with demand so far, so I was willing to bet he had a wardrobe repair kit somewhere on this tub.

“Okay, found them. Just let me drink this down and - !”

Glass shattered behind me at the same time that Serena inhaled sharply. It was a high-pitched, brief screaming sound.

My knife was in my hand before my feet turned me towards the door behind us, where the Heliodorians were… nowhere to be seen. I didn’t move, instead stealing quick glances in the beams above us, the corners I hadn’t checked when we came in; anywhere someone could have hidden and been seen by Serena but not me.

There was nothing. No one was here but the two of us.

Now more confused than scared, I turned back to Serena. Her face was pale and she had both her hands up to cover her mouth. Her fingernails were digging into her cheeks. No stupid jokes then, she was actually scared. I couldn’t figure out what of, though.

“Serena, what’s wrong?” I asked, trying to listen for anything in the hall outside.

She pulled her hands away from her face and pointed a shaking finger at me. “Y-Y-Your ch-chest is - !”

Ah, that was it.

“Yeah, I’ve had a rough day,” I laughed gently, ignoring the spikes that lanced into my everything as I did.

Ah, greatest of knights? I call horseshit. They’re just average Joes in armor and you’ll never convince me otherwise. Knights are supposed to be noble and honorable, yeah? Not much honor in kicking a man when he’s down and I’m a thief saying that. Least when I stab something, I try to make sure it’s quick and painless.

These guys though… I couldn’t remember if Sir I’ve-Got-More-Hair-Than-Ten-Little-Girls-Combined Jasper told ‘em to lay into me to keep me quiet, or if they were just pissed after almost a month of hunting around for Aramat with nothing to show for it and then having him runaway right in front of them. Either way, it only took about a minute before I wasn’t in any state to lift a finger, much less try to escape.

“They were kicking you.” It was a statement, but the inflection at the end made it sound like a question.

I understood, I guess. I didn’t really know a lot about the Arboria place they said they came from, but it sounded like one of those out-of-the-way temples where outside connections are limited and everyone lives in peace, yadda yadda. The girls probably weren’t used to seeing evil in humans yet. In a lot of ways, it could be harder to accept than the wickedness of monsters. I’d had plenty of experience with it on both sides of the stick by then.

“Yeah, I got stomped. You said you found the magic water, right? Because, this still kind of hurts,” I said, trying to steer her back to the reason we came down here.

“Ah… ah, yes, yes, I did,” she said quietly and then turned back to the cabinet to get another vial.

There was a long table with cushions on top set up in the middle of the room. I figured it was for patients and decided that even if it was Sylvando’s massage table, he probably wouldn’t get mad about the blood. I gently stepped up the little ladder that offered easy access to the cushions and decided against laying down.

Serena was briefly covered in a pale glow as her magical power was restored a bit. It was only a quick fix and she wouldn’t be up to speed until she had gotten some actual rest. None of us would, actually. Hopefully nothing else tried to kill us until morning.

Her hands were warm and very gentle as she focused the healing magic into specific parts of my body, feeling for any broken bones or deep cuts that a general fix-it would have missed. I was pretty sure I didn’t have anything worse than bruises and scrapes, but I’d been wrong before. Fear and excitement made for good distractions in a crisis, but they could also keep you from realizing you’re in trouble when the danger has passed.

Tiny sparkles and arcane circles flashed around her hands as she patched me back together. Not for the first time, I wondered why such a competent healer was wandering around the world with her equally competent battle-mage sister looking for a legend who had been outlawed by the most famous king in the known world. Still, they hadn’t elaborated and I wasn’t going to ask. Goddess knew, there were things about my past I wouldn’t want to talk about.

“Wh… uld… is?”

“Hm?” I had been staring at my knife, trying to see if there was any obvious defect in the metal. My Divine Dagger, reforged to mastery under Aramat’s hand, was probably decorating Sir Stick-Up-His-Ass Jasper’s belt now, unless one of his guards had kept it for himself. The one I held now was just something Sylvando had handed me after I boarded the ship. “You’ve got to keep some steel handy all the time, right sweety?” he had said. I didn’t quite get what he was thinking when he said it, but I appreciated it all the same. I was never much good with my fists.

“Why would they do this?” Serena repeated in a louder voice, though for her that was not saying much.

“What, beating me up? It was probably because I kept trying to get away. And yelling insults at them.”

They had dragged me back onto that platform at first, holding me down on my knees and yanking on my hair until I was bent almost in half. Sir Knightliest-Of-Twats Jasper had proceeded to ask me where Aramat was going in tones that switched between smug and furious. I responded with the standard lower Helidor greeting for smug (your mother’s a slut) and the intimate lower Heliodor greeting for furious (your father’s a whore).

 _That_ was when the kicking started. I was still being held down and decided if I couldn’t hit back, I was going to rip their self-esteem a new one. I always think fast under pressure, wouldn’t be a good thief if I couldn’t, and I’m pretty sure I invented some new curses tonight. Not to say that I didn’t use some of the classics of course, i.e. gaping cunt, as mentioned earlier.

I actually had managed to tear loose from them once. I went limp and quiet, then, when they loosened their grip, made a run for it. Didn’t get very far. They were a lot angrier after that. I got taken back to their headquarters, an upper-class house they had commandeered from Doge Rotundo when they arrived. Security was shit, probably because they didn’t actually expect to have any trouble in Gondolia, and the only reason I didn’t get away was because my legs gave out when I was halfway through the window. Sir I-Had-The-Luminary-In-Front-Of-Me-And-Still-Lost-Him Jasper was basically tearing his hair out by that point, though I can’t flatter myself and say it was because of me. I mean, I was trying to be an annoyance, yes, but I think it was because he knew Aramat, if he had any sense, had taken off for the hills and was getting further away with each passing second.

Ah, shows what he knew.

All he had by the end of the day was me and a lower Heliodor thief is no big prize. Hell, go down to the slums and cast a net. You’ll haul in a dozen of us. I’m guessing King Carnelian was getting _very_ upset with his favorite elite knights consistently failing to catch a sixteen-year-old villager, legendary Luminary or not, and was putting some pressure down on his commanders. That was certainly the impression I got from Sir Needs-To-Calm-The-Fuck-Down Jasper, as he alternated between threatening to take me back to that dungeon I’d spent months digging my way out of and making sure I was bricked in my cell to starve to death, or just cutting my head off right then and there.

I didn’t say anything. I’d used up my entire vocabulary of swear words by then and, honestly, I was tired and hurting. I didn’t know where Aramat and the others were by then, so even if he did break out the branding irons, there was nothing I could tell him. I think he knew that too, but he kept asking.

Finally, long after the sun set, he gave up and decided to execute me. I’d half been expecting to hear those words for almost a year, but it still gave me chills. I didn’t want to die, not before saving Mia, but I’d liked to think I’d undone some of the wrong I’d put into the world by helping the Luminary. Saving that woodcutter from the imp’s curse, killing the monster who’d been abducting and murdering people for their magical power, killing the Sand Slayer and showing that wimpy prince Faris how to be a better man; I wanted more from life, but if I had to die then, there were three things I could use to balance the scales. I hoped it would be enough.

It didn’t turn out that way though. One of the guards standing in the corner of the room spoke up. Turns out he’d only just arrived and had been transferred from Hendrik’s command to this one. He’d been there at the Emerald Coast, where Aramat and I had made our desperate escape from Hendrik. More importantly, he’d seen how I’d gone back for Aramat when his horse had been shot out from under him. Even the Darkspawn, he had argued, would not lightly abandon someone he owed his life to.

That wasn’t really true. I owed Aramat earlier from when he’d kept me from smashing into the ground after jumping from a cliff. If there was a debt, I’d paid it. And I hadn’t been thinking of any debt when I’d doubled back either. It had been a combination of ‘don’t let the fucking Luminary die’ and ‘don’t let fucking Aramat die.’ But eh, let ‘em think what they wanted. It would give me more time to try and get away.

…Wish that was how it had turned out. They’d gotten wise to me by then and I was tied to that column so damn tight I thought I was going to suffocate before I ever lost my head. I probably could have gotten out of the ropes, but getting away from right under their noses? Not happening. I made one attempt to get loose and was told in no uncertain terms that I would have Sir Probably-Going-To-Lose-His-Job Jasper’s sword through my guts if I tried again. After that, I settled in for the night.

Not too much later, I got rescued. Aramat and the others had not left Gondolia; had, in fact, spent the entire day and most of the night hiding from the soldiers and figuring out a way to get to me unseen. Idiots. I’d hoped Veronica at least would point out that risking the Luminary for me was not a good idea, but I guess not. Can’t say I wasn’t relieved, honestly, but it was still a dumb decision. I’d probably have to talk to them about that later.

But that was later. I didn’t want to dump my whole terrible night on Serena when she was tired and sad. Girl’s sweet and she didn’t deserve it.

“That’s no excuse. I can understand needing to restrain a prisoner if they break the law, but this is just cruel! Knights should have more restraint,” she said as she worked her magic.

“Knights are still people and people can be jerks,” I pointed out. “Honestly, it isn’t even the worst beating I’ve had. Don’t worry about it.”

“That doesn’t exactly make me feel better, you know. We were all so worried about you after that fiasco, wondering what Sir Jasper was going to do to you and how we could get you back. We should have come faster.”

Ah, not this. “Listen, seriously,” I looked down at her and waited until she met my eyes. “We’re on the run from an entire kingdom and that’s before you factor in whatever the Dark One is going to turn out to be. Shit happens. I came out mostly all right and everyone else is basically fine, so it’s not worth getting upset about.”

“Your pain is _most certainly_ worth getting upset about! Were you like this when Aramat had to heal you? Trying to downplay how you get injured, and how painful and frightening it is?”

I wanted to tell her she was overreacting, but I felt like that would just make it worse. I’d found Serena’s sensitive spot, apparently. She stepped back from the table and lifted up her skirt to show me her right calf. I could see a faint scattering of white scar tissue on her skin, like pale freckles.

“Do you remember this? How much I cried when you were picking those Cactiball thorns out of my leg? I didn’t feel like it was no big deal, I felt like I wanted to cut off my leg! And I can feel bruises all the way in your lungs! You’ve been in pain all night and had that horrible man threatening you!” She actually had some tears in her eyes. Man, this girl could get worked up.

Had to calm her down. She didn’t like me downplaying how I was feeling, but that was my default response. How to put it so she’d let it go?

“It’s not that it doesn’t hurt,” I said slowly, trying to figure out the best way of putting it. “I grew up north from here, really far north. Didn’t get to Heliodor until I was teenager. And it was cold there, all the time. Didn’t have a lot to my name, clothes included. So, it was always a bit painful, but that was good. If I could still feel the cold, that meant the frostbite hadn’t gotten into me yet. It meant I was still alive. That’s all that pain is, really. Just something that tells you you’re still alive.”

Was she crying a bit less now?

“That’s even worse,” Serena said. Damn it. “No one should have to view pain as a good thing. Pain means something has gone wrong, that you’re hurt.”

Think, think, think, think, think Erik.

…Ah, hell. Just treat her like Mia.

“Honestly, I think I could have gotten away if you’d given me a few more minutes,” I bragged. “They were strong, but none of ‘em were terribly bright. Couldn’t run fast, either.”

“You were tied to a column and surrounded by knights, including Commander Jasper.”

“Details,” I waved away her dubious (and sadly, correct) observations. “I would have figured something out.”

“I… can’t even believe you,” Serena sighed. “Why are you making fun of this?”

Because I don’t like seeing you upset and I’m trying to make it seem better?

“Because it really isn’t a big deal, not to me,” I lied. “I’ve been hurt, been captured, been threatened with execution all before. I used to be a thief, remember? And I already told you about how I went after the Red Orb. When you get caught stealing a national treasure, no one’s happy with you.”

Serena took in a deep breath, held it for a moment and then let it out in one big rush. She tended to do that a lot when Veronica was being extra bossy and I was pretty sure it was a stress management technique for her.

“I won’t argue about this more tonight. But if you are hurt in the future, and I don’t care how much or how little it is, you will treat it with due consideration.  You will not say it doesn’t matter. Understood?”

Oh, this was new. Hasn’t seen this side of little miss buttercup before.

“Understood,” I said. As long as no one was hurt more than me, I could probably even keep it easily enough. “So, am I done now?”

 “Yes, all fixed up.” The light around her hands faded and she stepped away from the table. I flexed my arms and breathed deeply to test her work out, and it was perfect as always. Whoever sent these girls to find Aramat was getting a big thank you from me if we ever met. …Well, maybe not for Veronica.

“Ah, thanks,” I said, reaching for my shirt. It needed repairs and a wash, but I wasn’t sleeping without it. Had to run away without a shirt once. Do you know how badly a half-naked man stands out in Heliodor? Derk wouldn’t stop bringing it up whenever he wanted to take me down a peg.

Serena was heading for the door when I called out to her. “Hey, Serena? If anyone asks, I wasn’t hurt that badly, okay?”

Her shoulders stiffened. “You want me to _lie_ now?” She whirled around and, yep, she was mad again.

“Not _lie_ , exactly,” I held up my hands in fake surrender. “Just… don’t say anything unless they ask. And if they do, keep it short. Especially Aramat. He doesn’t….”

I stopped, trying to find a simple way of saying, ‘he lost everything and everyone he ever knew and loved in less than a week because his king turned out to be a massive asshole and I’ve been one of the few constants in his life since then, so I don’t think he’d react well to what happened.’

I couldn’t.

Instead, I said, “he’s kind of naïve. Hearing things like this… upsets him.”

“It would upset _anyone_ , you dunce, and it’s being decent, not naïve,” Serena huffed. But then she sighed and turned back to the door. “…I won’t say anything if they don’t ask, but if they do want details, I’m not holding them back. I hope they know what a horrible person that Sir Jasper turned out to be. Threatening a man for someone else’s supposed crimes, honestly.”

Heh, she was a treat.

“Thanks a bunch,” I shouted after her cheerfully. The door closed behind her with a quite click of the latch and I was left alone for the first time in a while. I could feel all the tension in my body just flow out of me like water from a cracked jug and I flopped back down onto the cushioned table.

…They shouldn’t have come after me. It all worked out all right in the end and I’m glad they had, but they shouldn’t have come after me. The seer who’d told me to go with the Luminary when I met him (and I’d have to apologize for calling him a crackpot if I ever saw him again) had said that the world’s fate was going to depend on that person. The entire world. One thief was not the equal of the entire world.

But I had a fairly good idea of how that conversation would go if I brought it up. Aramat would call me an idiot and say he’d never leave me behind. Serena, as just proven, would do something similar. Veronica… would probably do the same, even if only to keep an eye on Serena and make sure her sister was safe. Or hell, maybe she actually liked me. Even Sylvando, who I’d known for all of three days, had been willing to go up against one of the most dangerous men in the world to haul my ass back from an execution. I didn’t get him, honestly.

But saying I was worth all that was a lie. It was nice lie, but it was still a lie. I couldn’t be mad at them, I was a liar too in my own way, but this was a dangerous kind of lie. Problem was, I didn’t know how to fix it, aside from make sure nothing like tonight ever happened again.

Would Aramat give himself up if it meant saving one of us? I was afraid that the answer was yes. He was compassionate like that. Which meant, as Sir Smugger-Than-He-Has-Any-Right-To-Be Jasper found out tonight, grabbing any one of us would be akin to getting Aramat if he couldn’t save us otherwise. I wish we’d had the good luck to kill that bastard before leaving Gondolia, but hopefully we’d never see him again.

This wasn’t a problem I knew how to fix. I wasn’t good at looking after others. Telling all of this honestly would just get me yelled at, so lies it was. Not sure what lie it would be, but Aramat couldn’t do this shit again. There were just too many ways it could have gone wrong. I sighed and heaved my body off the table, heading back to the upper deck where everyone was waiting. Sylvando had mentioned something about bringing up a barbeque from storage and roasting some squid. I think it was petty vengeance towards the big monster who’d nearly sunk us on our way out to sea.

I’d figure it out in the morning, after a good meal and some rest. And really, maybe I was overreacting. The easiest way to make sure this never happened again was just to make sure we never got split up.

Really, how hard could that be?

 

**Author's Note:**

> Ah, darn it. I wanted to be the first person to post a Dragon Quest XI fic here and two people already beat me to it. Still, at least they understand Erik's the most interesting one so far. I haven't beaten the game yet (started this fic as soon as I got the Salty Stallion and finished it after getting the Blue Orb today), so I only know what the game's shown me so far and bits that I pick up from TvTropes and game websites. If you want to leave a comment, no spoilers please. 
> 
> I figure Erik, being the thieving little ragamuffin that he is, actually swears worse than a sailor, but he tones it down a lot around his infinitely more polite companions. Inside his head is free game, though.


End file.
